Since my skills have been improving, not much but improving none the less, i've started to try fishing multiple flies. I've read of many different ways to tie the droppers (inline clinch, dropper loops, etc.) I've been fishing a dry dropper where you tie in a small piece of tippet then take another piece of tippet and double surgeon the two together, trim the odd tag, use the tag you left for your dry, and use the bottom length for the nymph. Just wondering what everyone else uses for multiple fly applications.

Posted on: 2010/3/12 12:46

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If a dry dropper, I just tie the dropper off either the eye or the bend of the hook. For the most part, when I fish like this I'm fishing the nymph and just using the dry as an indicator.

When using multiple nymphs, I just tie in the last tippet section with a blood knot, and leave a long tag end. The dropper goes on the tag end and the point fly goes at the end of the tippet. Even with only one nymph, I sometimes do this and use the long tag end for the weight, easier to change for non-removable shot.

A true Czech nymphing rig is nice, but is pretty complicated, until you learn it.

I have also messed around with what I call "false loops." Basicall you create a knot in the leader, but if you pulled the tag end the leader would straighten with no know. However, if you tie in a tippet section at this "knot" the knot is kept from slipping out by the tippet. If you don't want that setup anymore, just cut the tippet and pull the leader straight.

But, to the bend is the easiest, and quicjest for me; probably because that's what I've done the most.

If I'm fishing nymphs dead drift, I usually just tie a foot or two of additional monofilament to the eye of the lead fly that is already tied on. Tie the "trail" fly to this new piece of mono. Works for me. I also use this method most of the time for dropper systems in which the lead fly is a floating fly. When you use a dropper system in which the lead fly floats and the trail fly sinks, this is usually known as a "hopper dropper."

The only problem I've had with tying at the bend is if the fly is tied too far down the bend; like a caddis, or a curved hook. Then the tippet has a tendancy to get caught on the barb, or slide off on barbless.

The only problem I have with tying a dropper off the eye (in a dry-dropper rig) is that the dropper has a tendency to make the dry float unnaturally. Then again, in these situations I tend to just have the dry fly on for an indicator and "just in case", I'm mostly fishing the dropper.

With the dropper-point configuration on a team of nymphs, the dropper tends to wrap around the leader. You can negate this somewhat by keeping the dropper line short and thick. But thick can equal less effective, and short means you only have one or two fly changes before having to retie the whole thing.

I haven't done it yet, but those O-ring things look nice for tying droppers, rather than the tag end thing.